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Pre Florida Presser - UConn Huskies MBB · Coaches Corner

0:02
Speaker 1: All right, good afternoon. We're now ready to start the
0:05
Speaker 1: Yukon Student Athlete Press Conference. I'd like to remind you
0:09
Speaker 1: one more time please make sure your phones are on mute,
0:12
Speaker 1: and at this time we'll go ahead and open up
0:14
Speaker 1: the floor for questions. Please raise your hand and we'll
0:18
Speaker 1: get your microphone. All right, let's start in the back.
0:26
Speaker 2: David Hill with ESPN guys.
0:28
Speaker 3: Last night after the game, Coach Reli said that if
0:31
Speaker 3: it wasn't quote for his I think antics and viral moments,
0:35
Speaker 3: you guys would be getting more appreciation and attention for
0:38
Speaker 3: the run that this program has been on over the
0:40
Speaker 3: last few years. I'm curious any of you can answer
0:43
Speaker 3: this obviously, what do you make of that? And do
0:46
Speaker 3: you wish there was more attention on what you guys
0:48
Speaker 3: have done or do you kind of like it that
0:50
Speaker 3: a lot of us tend to focus on coach instead?
0:53
Speaker 4: So could you answer that question.
0:56
Speaker 5: I mean, at the last couple of years, the run
0:59
Speaker 5: has been amazing and we've all enjoyed it. But we're
1:03
Speaker 5: still on the run and we still want to continue it.
1:08
Speaker 4: All right, let's go over there.
1:09
Speaker 6: Jacob sam Callen the Daily Campus has uh, you guys
1:13
Speaker 6: faced Walter Cleanton Junior two years ago with Iona, just
1:16
Speaker 6: how has this game evolved since from then until now?
1:22
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean he's playing at an all American level.
1:26
Speaker 5: You can really shoot the ball, shoot the ball off
1:28
Speaker 5: the bounce. We just have to, you know, I mean,
1:31
Speaker 5: follow our game plan and you know, make it tough
1:33
Speaker 5: for him.
1:35
Speaker 4: All right, let's go to the dark the black shirt.
1:39
Speaker 4: There you go, and then we're behind.
1:41
Speaker 7: Hey, Steve Reid from the Associated Press for all of
1:44
Speaker 7: you guys, Alex in particular, you guys go into tomorrow's
1:51
Speaker 7: game is almost a double digit underdog, which is not
1:54
Speaker 7: something that you guys have seen very often over the
1:57
Speaker 7: last couple of years.
1:58
Speaker 2: I just want to.
1:59
Speaker 7: Mentally, you know, being that underdog, you know, how does
2:02
Speaker 7: that feel and is it? Is it less pressure in
2:05
Speaker 7: some ways?
2:06
Speaker 8: I guess, uh, yeah, it's definitely less pressure. But I
2:09
Speaker 8: felt like we've been the underdog the entire season ever
2:12
Speaker 8: since we came back from BWI, so we're used to
2:15
Speaker 8: being the underdogs for a majority of the season and
2:18
Speaker 8: it's not really a news stage.
2:20
Speaker 2: For us this year.
2:21
Speaker 8: So I mean, we'll be ready.
2:24
Speaker 4: For tomorrow, terrorists. Could you answer that question as well?
2:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean.
2:31
Speaker 9: Like you said, we feel like other people feel like
2:34
Speaker 9: we're going under the dog. Yeah, that's that's cool. But
2:37
Speaker 9: go out there and play, play hard, play like we
2:39
Speaker 9: have none to lose. So I feel like that's that's
2:41
Speaker 9: gonna be the key to the game. Locking up defensively
2:44
Speaker 9: and on what type of team they are explosive on
2:46
Speaker 9: the offensive end, So being able to hone in on
2:49
Speaker 9: our defensive skills and control the glass.
2:53
Speaker 4: Hasan Is there anything to add?
2:56
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, we just you know, maybe being an underdog
2:59
Speaker 5: going into them all. There's nothing new to us. We
3:03
Speaker 5: just got to be ready, all right.
3:06
Speaker 10: Other questions, I'm sorry Jesse Docherty from the Washington Post.
3:11
Speaker 10: So this is for Alex Farness coaches in here earlier,
3:14
Speaker 10: saying after he played you kind of a couple of
3:16
Speaker 10: years ago, he kind of saw a blueprint for what
3:17
Speaker 10: he might want to build there. Have you noticed, as
3:19
Speaker 10: you guys have had all the success that maybe teams
3:22
Speaker 10: have started to play like you?
3:22
Speaker 2: And if so, what's that look like?
3:25
Speaker 8: I mean, definitely, I think you know, teams have started
3:28
Speaker 8: to follow our model, our style ways, and that's just
3:32
Speaker 8: been with teams across the country. You definitely see teams
3:35
Speaker 8: stealing different actions or defensively as well. So you know,
3:39
Speaker 8: the coaching stat has done a great job of finding
3:42
Speaker 8: that and just establishing that for us the last two
3:44
Speaker 8: years and this year, and you know it's worked, so
3:47
Speaker 8: other people want to succeed as well.
3:50
Speaker 3: All Right, all the way in the back to Ethan, Alex,
3:54
Speaker 3: you mentioned you felt like an underdog since MAUI. How
3:57
Speaker 3: much different do you feel like this team is today
3:59
Speaker 3: if that it was when you got back from that trip.
4:01
Speaker 8: It's extremely different. I mean, it's two completely different teams.
4:04
Speaker 8: We've gone a lot stronger since that trip. We've gone
4:07
Speaker 8: a lot stronger with injuries that we've had to deal with,
4:10
Speaker 8: so we're completely different. We've learned a lot, We've learned
4:14
Speaker 8: how to play play alongside each other better, and the
4:17
Speaker 8: coaches has has done a really good job of helping
4:20
Speaker 8: us continue to get to the point that we are
4:22
Speaker 8: this year. So it's it's been a long journey, but
4:25
Speaker 8: we've learned a lot and we became stronger from it.
4:27
Speaker 4: Let's go on the injury.
4:30
Speaker 3: Hey, Alex, coach talked about, you know, wanting you to
4:34
Speaker 3: take more shots.
4:36
Speaker 4: What's his message personally to you? You know, as you
4:38
Speaker 4: prepare for this one.
4:40
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's the same as it's always been, just he
4:42
Speaker 8: has so much trust and confidence in who I am
4:45
Speaker 8: as a players. He does want me to shoot the
4:47
Speaker 8: ball more, and you know, I definitely do got to
4:49
Speaker 8: do that at times. So I just got to have
4:51
Speaker 8: that confidence in myself as well. But everyone in the
4:55
Speaker 8: locker room believes in me or the coaching staff believes
4:57
Speaker 8: in me, and you know I got it, especially at
4:59
Speaker 8: this stage.
5:00
Speaker 2: Of the tournament.
5:03
Speaker 11: Any other questions, Okay, let's go back there, Terras. First off,
5:09
Speaker 11: did you bring your saxophone on this trip? And also,
5:13
Speaker 11: you do seem to have like a certain rhythm to
5:15
Speaker 11: your game. I don't know if it's maybe a forced
5:17
Speaker 11: I don't know connection, but are there any ways in
5:19
Speaker 11: which being a musician maybe influences how you play basketball?
5:22
Speaker 9: Yeah? Uh no, I did not bring my saxophone on
5:25
Speaker 9: this trip, but it is with me in stores at
5:28
Speaker 9: the gym right now. But yeah, I feel like playing
5:31
Speaker 9: music has helped me so much on the court and
5:34
Speaker 9: off the court. But like I said, like basketball is
5:37
Speaker 9: a rhythm. Each each person has their own rhythm, their
5:40
Speaker 9: own cadence, and once you figured it out, it's easier
5:42
Speaker 9: to go on on defense, but on offensive side, you
5:45
Speaker 9: have to know what your cadence is. So for the
5:46
Speaker 9: longest time, like mine was a little bit like two
5:49
Speaker 9: finasti cel getting here in the summer. I mean coach
5:53
Speaker 9: Coach wanted to make an emphasis of me being more physical,
5:56
Speaker 9: more dominant, more assertive in the post. So I feel
5:59
Speaker 9: like the balance of both worlds is like a perfect
6:03
Speaker 9: perfect balance for me.
6:06
Speaker 6: Any other questions, All right, this can get for any
6:11
Speaker 6: three of you playing Oklahoma and SEC team last night,
6:16
Speaker 6: Just how the Secs had a great seedson all year long.
6:19
Speaker 6: Do you think being Oklahoma in the way you guys
6:22
Speaker 6: did in the gritty matchup helps you prepare for tomorrow night?
6:27
Speaker 4: Hassan, could you answer that place?
6:29
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would say it definitely helped us prepared for
6:32
Speaker 5: us for tomorrow night. I mean, you know, Oklahoma was
6:37
Speaker 5: a very good team, very physical team. They played tough,
6:40
Speaker 5: especially downa shretch, And I think we need to do
6:44
Speaker 5: the same thing that we did a lot of the
6:46
Speaker 5: same things that we did in yesterday's game.
6:48
Speaker 2: We need to do that tomorrow.
6:52
Speaker 12: Dan Mark Cannaziaro from New York Post, I'm just curious
6:55
Speaker 12: about what you make of the development of Clayton.
6:58
Speaker 2: You saw him a few years ago.
6:59
Speaker 12: Out and and what what what makes him special?
7:03
Speaker 8: Now?
7:03
Speaker 2: Yeah?
7:04
Speaker 13: I mean you you you know, it's funny you look
7:09
Speaker 13: at the you know, the beginning of our run. You
7:11
Speaker 13: know he was you know, he shared the court with us,
7:14
Speaker 13: and you know you could see the you know, the
7:17
Speaker 13: two way ability. You know, the size, the you know,
7:25
Speaker 13: the physical strength obviously, the you know, the shooting is
7:29
Speaker 13: highest level. I mean he looks everything. You know, he
7:32
Speaker 13: looks the part of first team All American.
7:35
Speaker 2: Uh. You know. It was when I asked Luke.
7:38
Speaker 13: Who has the scout like he was SEC player of
7:41
Speaker 13: the year, right, and he said, no, who the hell
7:45
Speaker 13: got it?
7:45
Speaker 2: It was like all right, broom, all right.
7:47
Speaker 13: So but yeah, the shooting, though, I think, is what's
7:52
Speaker 13: taking it to a crazy high level for him. The range,
7:55
Speaker 13: the fact that he does it off the dribble, the
7:57
Speaker 13: fact that he gets it off as quick as he
7:59
Speaker 13: gets off. I mean, some of the ones that he's making,
8:03
Speaker 13: or a large majority of the ones he's making, you
8:06
Speaker 13: can't do much about it. I mean, they are NBA
8:09
Speaker 13: level shots. I don't know where he is on mock drafts.
8:17
Speaker 2: He should be there.
8:19
Speaker 13: You know, he looks to me like a guy who's
8:21
Speaker 13: you know, got some Fred Van Fleet type of abilities
8:25
Speaker 13: as a guard, impressive player with great instincts.
8:29
Speaker 4: Okay, let's stand at edge or.
8:33
Speaker 10: Jesse he Dockerty With The Washington Post, Dan Todd was
8:35
Speaker 10: in here earlier saying that when he faced you guys
8:37
Speaker 10: two years ago, he started to maybe see what he
8:39
Speaker 10: wanted to build his program into. And I'm curious if
8:42
Speaker 10: having so much success kind of there's a trap there
8:45
Speaker 10: of maybe giving teams a template how do them beat you?
8:47
Speaker 10: And how much you've maybe seen teams try to mimic
8:50
Speaker 10: what you guys have done in recent years.
8:54
Speaker 13: Yeah, I mean I think you know, I've looked at
8:56
Speaker 13: uh yeah, I remember that game obviously, you know in
9:02
Speaker 13: twenty three it was, you know, the beginning of of
9:05
Speaker 13: of this run that we've been on. And I think
9:08
Speaker 13: that the what we learned the most from our failure
9:12
Speaker 13: in twenty twenty two was, uh, you know, the roster
9:15
Speaker 13: construction piece, which you know, we absolutely nailed the last
9:19
Speaker 13: two years.
9:20
Speaker 2: And you know, I'm I'm.
9:23
Speaker 13: Looking at you know, obviously, as this season has gone on,
9:28
Speaker 13: I've looked at the best teams in the country and
9:30
Speaker 13: how they've constructed this year and and uh, I've envied
9:34
Speaker 13: some of the teams that I'm now facing or that
9:37
Speaker 13: I've had a chance to watch, So you know, I
9:40
Speaker 13: think we all watch and learn from each other on
9:44
Speaker 13: on a on a year to year basis. I think
9:47
Speaker 13: it's just, uh, you know, what they have in terms
9:50
Speaker 13: of their front court is obviously similar to what we've
9:54
Speaker 13: had in our run. And then obviously the perimeter firepower
10:00
Speaker 13: and the veteran guards uh us with Cam Spencer, Tristan Newton,
10:05
Speaker 13: you know, big physical guards, Steph Castle. You know, we've
10:10
Speaker 13: had a you know, we've had the formula the last
10:13
Speaker 13: couple of years and it looks like, you know, they've
10:16
Speaker 13: got a pretty good formula.
10:18
Speaker 12: Okay, on the edge r Jacob Josh Graham ws JS
10:22
Speaker 12: and the spirit of envying what other teams might have.
10:24
Speaker 12: We often hear coaches talk about remembering the losses more
10:28
Speaker 12: than wins. With that in mind and sharing a building
10:30
Speaker 12: with Cooper Flag this weekend, how often do you think
10:36
Speaker 12: about or how much does it bother you the recruiting
10:38
Speaker 12: battles you might have And have you had a moment
10:41
Speaker 12: to think what this roster might have been like if
10:43
Speaker 12: he was on it?
10:45
Speaker 13: Yeah, I think during the course of your career. I
10:49
Speaker 13: think any time, no matter where you are, whether you're
10:51
Speaker 13: at Wagner, you know, Rody, when I was coaching high
10:54
Speaker 13: school of basketball at Saint Benedict's and Kyrie went to
10:59
Speaker 13: Saint Pat's and Kevin Boyle kicked my ass with Kyrie,
11:02
Speaker 13: you know, uh, you know, I rude the day that
11:07
Speaker 13: I didn't get that guy to come to Saint Patnict.
11:09
Speaker 13: So I think that's just just kind of human nature
11:12
Speaker 13: and part of it. I think you're always you know,
11:14
Speaker 13: when you see players, you'll go to other places and
11:17
Speaker 13: and uh and do well you imagine, you know what,
11:21
Speaker 13: you know what that player at different moments, you know
11:23
Speaker 13: what that would have been like the coach. But I
11:26
Speaker 13: think all coaches kind of kind of do that at
11:30
Speaker 13: different times. You don't obsess over it.
11:33
Speaker 1: Okay, Ethan, let's go third row in the middle, then
11:36
Speaker 1: we go front, and then we'll work back.
11:39
Speaker 14: Dan Mike Anthony from Hurston, Connecticut solo ball seems filled
11:44
Speaker 14: with joy to be playing the role he's playing with
11:46
Speaker 14: this team, But I think back to last year in
11:49
Speaker 14: Brooklyn and Boston, he was filled with joy to be
11:51
Speaker 14: along for the Riote. He just seems to have loved
11:53
Speaker 14: his experience. What his what has his ability to handle
11:56
Speaker 14: two distinctly different roles with the same approach meant to.
11:59
Speaker 13: Your Yeah, you know just uh, I mean just Solo
12:06
Speaker 13: just came into this into the program. You know, when
12:10
Speaker 13: you have like, uh, you know, two great parents like
12:13
Speaker 13: Solo has, you know that obviously you know, loving and nurturing,
12:18
Speaker 13: but also too, you know, demanding and high standards. You know,
12:23
Speaker 13: So you're just getting someone in your program that is uh,
12:29
Speaker 13: you know, it's just going to add a lot to
12:31
Speaker 13: your culture.
12:32
Speaker 2: And is going to be a great program.
12:34
Speaker 13: Guy obviously super talented, you know, with the shooting and uh,
12:40
Speaker 13: and a guy that's got a high level of confidence
12:42
Speaker 13: and self belief and is improving and in a lot
12:46
Speaker 13: of different aspects of his game. I think you see
12:48
Speaker 13: the defensive improvement, you know, right now before your eyes.
12:52
Speaker 13: I think you see the uh, you know, the guard
12:54
Speaker 13: guard play improvement. Obviously, the foul trouble, you know, hurt
12:58
Speaker 13: his overall line last night. We got to find a
13:01
Speaker 13: way to get him four or five more shots in
13:04
Speaker 13: tomorrow's game. We can't have games maybe where he ends
13:08
Speaker 13: with with eight or nine shots. We've got to get
13:10
Speaker 13: him thirteen fourteen shots in tomorrow night's game, because you know,
13:14
Speaker 13: he's just he's built for you know, he's built for
13:17
Speaker 13: the stage. He's he's built for what Yukon's trying to do.
13:20
Speaker 4: Okay, front row, then we're going back.
13:25
Speaker 2: Dave Borders Hirst, Connecticut Media.
13:26
Speaker 15: Dan Sampson the all time wins leader here after a
13:30
Speaker 15: last I guess this kind of answers itself. But what
13:34
Speaker 15: does that say about him? And we all know that,
13:36
Speaker 15: you know, the the wall potential quote when he came
13:38
Speaker 15: to as a fresher that's not going to happen. But
13:41
Speaker 15: is that still a pretty good summary of his career?
13:44
Speaker 15: The fact that he's the all time in this program.
13:46
Speaker 13: Of yeah, yeah, I mean, Samson's just the most awesome
13:52
Speaker 13: human being. And you'll just y'all ever have in your program,
13:57
Speaker 13: just just all about teams, super helted, waited his turn,
14:02
Speaker 13: dealt with injuries, you know, had to earn his spot,
14:05
Speaker 13: had to earn a starting spot. We'll do absolutely anything
14:09
Speaker 13: he can to you know, help the team win the possession,
14:13
Speaker 13: and uh, you know he just uh it speaks to
14:18
Speaker 13: the type of men we've had and the type of
14:20
Speaker 13: run we've had here in a program. It's hard to
14:24
Speaker 13: make history or or do historical things at Yukon. And
14:30
Speaker 13: just proud that he gets Uh, you know that.
14:35
Speaker 2: That's crazy that a program like Yukon. You you've won
14:38
Speaker 2: the most games.
14:40
Speaker 4: All right, Ethan we gon go fourth row, then fifth row,
14:43
Speaker 4: then third row.
14:44
Speaker 2: Got to start crying.
14:47
Speaker 16: Kevin Brockway gains Wilson obviously. Uh, you know before Todd Golden,
14:52
Speaker 16: Billy Donovan achieved high level of success of Florida before
14:55
Speaker 16: going on to the NBA. And I understand you guys
14:57
Speaker 16: have a little bit of a relationship. Just what kind
14:59
Speaker 16: of signing or has he been to you over the
15:01
Speaker 16: years and your thoughts about, you know, facing a Florida
15:03
Speaker 16: program that was once led by him.
15:05
Speaker 13: Yeah, I mean as a young coach, those are the
15:08
Speaker 13: teams that I admired. I mean, I'm you know, Billy's
15:12
Speaker 13: always been one of my coaching idols. And and uh,
15:16
Speaker 13: he's impacted me in terms of mentors as much as
15:19
Speaker 13: anyone outside of the Hurly clan. He's had as much
15:23
Speaker 13: or more impact, probably the most. Although he's gone dark
15:27
Speaker 13: on me the last couple of days here. He's not
15:30
Speaker 13: responding to texts or phone calls from me. So but yeah,
15:36
Speaker 13: I mean those those Florida teams, those are some of
15:39
Speaker 13: my favorite teams I've ever watched play, you know, with.
15:43
Speaker 2: Horford and Noah and Brewer.
15:45
Speaker 13: I mean, know, those teams are amazing and uh two
15:48
Speaker 13: have accomplished the things that you know, my coaching idol
15:52
Speaker 13: has accomplished. And how much I love those Florida teams
15:56
Speaker 13: and we've been able to, you know, do what they've
15:59
Speaker 13: been able to, uh, you know, accomplished. Just it means
16:03
Speaker 13: obviously it means a lot to me, but the relationship
16:06
Speaker 13: means more to me than than anything because he's helped
16:11
Speaker 13: me so much. Billy is Uh, He's incredible.
16:14
Speaker 7: Okay, let's stay on that edge here, right Dan Steve
16:17
Speaker 7: Reid from the Associated Press. So, you're in a position
16:20
Speaker 7: you haven't been in very often over the last couple
16:23
Speaker 7: of years in the tournament. It's almost a double digit
16:25
Speaker 7: underdog going in tomorrow. First of all, I guess, in general,
16:29
Speaker 7: how does that? I guess guys feel different? And secondly,
16:33
Speaker 7: can you use that as a momentum when you're talking
16:35
Speaker 7: or incentive when you're talking to the guys? Is it
16:38
Speaker 7: something you'll bring up and doesn't matter.
16:41
Speaker 13: Yeah, you know, I don't think you like walk around
16:46
Speaker 13: saying to yourself when you coach or play at Yukon
16:49
Speaker 13: and you know you are coming off back to back championships,
16:53
Speaker 13: you know, we're just with the way that the season
16:57
Speaker 13: has played out. Obviously, you you know, we're you know,
17:03
Speaker 13: at our low end. We've had losses that have put
17:06
Speaker 13: us into this eight nine position, but you know we're
17:09
Speaker 13: we're a couple of possessions away from you know, if
17:12
Speaker 13: we don't completely melt down at the end of the
17:14
Speaker 13: seat in the Hall game, you know, if if we
17:18
Speaker 13: don't and if we don't and I don't you know,
17:20
Speaker 13: and plode and Maui and and blow all three of
17:22
Speaker 13: those games. If you know, if we if we make
17:26
Speaker 13: a couple of free throws, you know, at the end
17:29
Speaker 13: of that Villanova game, we may be looking at you know,
17:32
Speaker 13: a five set at worst here. So I don't know
17:35
Speaker 13: that when you coach or play at Yukon and you're
17:38
Speaker 13: coming off the success that we've had, that you know,
17:41
Speaker 13: we're we're looking at ourselves that way.
17:45
Speaker 2: You know.
17:46
Speaker 13: The film doesn't lie about Florida the challenges that they
17:49
Speaker 13: present in terms of what they do offensively, what they
17:53
Speaker 13: do defensively, what they do on the backboard. You know,
17:57
Speaker 13: it's it's eerily similar to what the challenge is that
18:00
Speaker 13: we've presented to people, you know, but this is it's
18:05
Speaker 13: not a best of seven game series, you know, this
18:10
Speaker 13: is uh, you know, it's a one game, you know,
18:13
Speaker 13: do or die situation. You know, for us, there's a
18:16
Speaker 13: distinct way that that we're going to want to play
18:19
Speaker 13: this game tomorrow. You know that we believe he's gonna
18:24
Speaker 13: give us a chance, you know, to to win the
18:26
Speaker 13: game if we could. Obviously, you know, shore up our defense,
18:31
Speaker 13: which has been better late in the year. I thought
18:34
Speaker 13: it was, you know, versus Oklahoma team yesterday, that was uh.
18:39
Speaker 2: You know, they were they were.
18:43
Speaker 13: You know, they were a very difficult shot that Kentucky
18:45
Speaker 13: made at the horn to beat them. They they were
18:48
Speaker 13: a very difficult shot away from playing in the SEC semifinals,
18:53
Speaker 13: Oklahoma was And I thought we guarded them very well yesterday.
18:56
Speaker 13: So obviously our defense is going to be stressed out
18:59
Speaker 13: to the max. Our our rebounding is gon be stressed
19:02
Speaker 13: out to the max, you know, but we've got to
19:05
Speaker 13: do things to give ourselves a chance tomorrow.
19:08
Speaker 2: Versus team.
19:09
Speaker 4: Okay, Third Road.
19:12
Speaker 17: Joe Rude of Hartford Current Dan Liam obviously has had
19:15
Speaker 17: a lot on his shoulders this year as far as
19:18
Speaker 17: responsibilities with this team. How have you seen them? How
19:21
Speaker 17: does he respond to two tough games like he's had
19:24
Speaker 17: a little bit lately, And what do you need from
19:25
Speaker 17: him tomorrow to have a chance?
19:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he has the.
19:30
Speaker 13: You know, the exact exact type of mental toughness and
19:34
Speaker 13: upbringing and uh and work ethic and uh, you know,
19:39
Speaker 13: and and career success where he could put together put
19:43
Speaker 13: behind him, you know, the kind of a couple of
19:48
Speaker 13: tough games which he you know, he's experienced. I think,
19:51
Speaker 13: you know, I think it makes him really dangerous tomorrow.
19:53
Speaker 13: I think it makes them incredibly dangerous in the game
19:56
Speaker 13: where you know, he has the ability, you know, if
20:01
Speaker 13: he if he if we can execute and get him
20:03
Speaker 13: the type of looks that that we've got to get
20:06
Speaker 13: for him offensively from a coaching staff and the players
20:10
Speaker 13: around him, you know that that he you know, he's
20:14
Speaker 13: convinced that you know, he's due, you know. And some
20:19
Speaker 13: players will stay in it, and some players will go
20:22
Speaker 13: through stretches like this and say I'm closer to being due,
20:26
Speaker 13: And in the back of his mind he's got that
20:27
Speaker 13: Creton game. You know, we're against one of the uh,
20:31
Speaker 13: you know, the toughest defenses that you'll play against. The
20:33
Speaker 13: guy went off for thirty eight. So in the back
20:36
Speaker 13: of his mind, he knows what he's capable of, and
20:38
Speaker 13: in his mind he thinks he's due.
20:40
Speaker 4: All right, Jacob, go back a little bit.
20:42
Speaker 6: There you go, Coach Sam Callahan, the daily campus.
20:47
Speaker 2: Has a gun. So regardless of opponent.
20:51
Speaker 6: Yesterday Florida just came out swinging against Norfolk State, and
20:54
Speaker 6: they've done that numerous times of season. How important against
20:57
Speaker 6: the most efficient offense in the country. How important it
21:01
Speaker 6: is for you guys to just how important is the
21:04
Speaker 6: first four minutes of this game tomorrow?
21:06
Speaker 13: Yeah, I just think every every possession is critical. I
21:11
Speaker 13: think with them, what you see is is just the runs.
21:17
Speaker 13: You know, when you when you play a leader lead offense,
21:20
Speaker 13: and you play elite defense, and you're a tremendous rebounding
21:24
Speaker 13: team and you're deep. You know, last year I just
21:28
Speaker 13: talked about you know, you know, we had a we
21:30
Speaker 13: were a bulletproof in the tournament because.
21:32
Speaker 2: Of all of those factors.
21:34
Speaker 13: And you know, when you have you know, a team
21:38
Speaker 13: like that, it just allows you to go on runs.
21:41
Speaker 13: You know, it's those hit a three, get a stop,
21:46
Speaker 13: get out transition, get it done, get a stop, hit
21:48
Speaker 13: a three, boom. It was just you were just up
21:51
Speaker 13: to now you're down five, you know, like and you
21:54
Speaker 13: know that's where they get you. So you know, for us,
21:59
Speaker 13: you know we're obviously you're going to have to you know,
22:03
Speaker 13: just be in a in a possession possession battle. You know,
22:07
Speaker 13: we can't really afford to try to play, you know,
22:10
Speaker 13: an SEC type of game against them where we're coming
22:14
Speaker 13: down and shooting within the first five seconds of the
22:16
Speaker 13: shot clock, and you know, then we're loose on defense
22:19
Speaker 13: and they shoot early in the clock, and then you know,
22:23
Speaker 13: we've got to try to play a different type of
22:26
Speaker 13: game than that.
22:28
Speaker 1: Okay, Jacob, take a step up the fourth row there,
22:30
Speaker 1: and then the next question will be right behind you.
22:33
Speaker 12: Dan, Since you were talking about a SEC big East
22:35
Speaker 12: expansion the other day, I'm just curious how much history.
22:38
Speaker 2: I didn't bring it up. I was just responding that's right.
22:41
Speaker 12: I'm just interested how much history you have DOM did
22:43
Speaker 12: in this state. And I know that it's become a
22:47
Speaker 12: trend of late for high major top program scheduling, home
22:50
Speaker 12: and homes. Have you had discussions with Duke North Carolina?
22:53
Speaker 12: Would you like to play more in this state?
22:56
Speaker 13: Yeah, I would love to because I think I think
22:59
Speaker 13: tomorrow night think that you know, the Duke fans obviously,
23:02
Speaker 13: you know, they have their history with with Yukon and
23:07
Speaker 13: and that rivalry. But my hope and tomorrow night's game,
23:12
Speaker 13: tomorrow afternoon's game with the crowd, with the Duke people
23:14
Speaker 13: that file in is that the you know number eleven
23:18
Speaker 13: Hurley Jersey and you know that that Trump's the petty
23:24
Speaker 13: Yukon Duke. I know our fans could be brutal on
23:28
Speaker 13: social and that digital sewer, but you know, I'm hoping
23:33
Speaker 13: though that Bobby Hurley, uh, and what he did for
23:37
Speaker 13: Duke and what Duke did for him and what they
23:39
Speaker 13: meant to each other and Coach k maybe blesses it
23:43
Speaker 13: that maybe that the Duke fans may be you know, come,
23:48
Speaker 13: you know, help me out tomorrow in there. Yeah, and
23:51
Speaker 13: we would like to. I mean we're you know, for us,
23:54
Speaker 13: obviously everything has changed in terms of you know, less
23:59
Speaker 13: MTE and more wanting to do you know, single a
24:03
Speaker 13: couple of single you know, single game MSG or somewhere
24:08
Speaker 13: big somewhere in Chicago for a single game, and then
24:11
Speaker 13: home and homes and yes, I mean we we've you know,
24:14
Speaker 13: we reach out for Kentucky, we reach out for for
24:16
Speaker 13: Duke and Carolina and Kansas and you know what we're
24:19
Speaker 13: trying to schedule, you know, those exciting home and homes
24:22
Speaker 13: or neutral site events that you know, just get people's
24:29
Speaker 13: attention for college basketball in November and December. Playing games
24:33
Speaker 13: like that I think are just great for the sport
24:35
Speaker 13: and we want to play them. And yes, we have,
24:38
Speaker 13: you know, reached out and I think you know, we'll
24:40
Speaker 13: be excited and we'll be announcing some exciting ones that
24:43
Speaker 13: we'll be playing. You know, but you know, it takes
24:47
Speaker 13: two to tango.
24:49
Speaker 4: Okay, stay on that edge.
24:51
Speaker 18: Darren soultsas Western News Orlando uh Todd was just up
24:55
Speaker 18: there talking about how with all the success you guys
24:57
Speaker 18: have had in this tournament, especially the last couple of years,
25:00
Speaker 18: your team expects to win. They have that mentality. How
25:03
Speaker 18: valuable is that, you know, intangible and how difficult is
25:06
Speaker 18: that to attain?
25:08
Speaker 13: Yeah, I mean, in all fairness to to the team, obviously,
25:13
Speaker 13: we've been able to you know, retain the staff and uh,
25:16
Speaker 13: you know, but a majority of the players that were
25:19
Speaker 13: part of the two two year run of or are
25:22
Speaker 13: now starring in the n b A. So, but we
25:26
Speaker 13: still have obviously some significant players with with Caravan and
25:30
Speaker 13: Samson Johnson, Hassandi Aara and Jay Stu and Solo Ball,
25:35
Speaker 13: you know, Jay Ross have all helped you know, last
25:38
Speaker 13: year's team, uh as well, So we still have you
25:41
Speaker 13: know that DNA and and I think I think more
25:45
Speaker 13: so for us, Uh, there's tremendous there's tremendous relief based
25:49
Speaker 13: on how how tumultuous disease it was and how how
25:53
Speaker 13: loud the external noise has been the whole year, both
25:56
Speaker 13: for everything that surrounds me and and surround Yukon basketball
25:59
Speaker 13: with House, that's what we've been. I think there's just
26:02
Speaker 13: been a great level of relief for our team just
26:05
Speaker 13: to hear our name called, to be able to obviously
26:09
Speaker 13: to have gotten through the first game and now have
26:11
Speaker 13: an opportunity to play, you know, one of the best
26:15
Speaker 13: teams in the tournament for the right to get to
26:19
Speaker 13: Sweet sixteen. I mean, we understand the challenge, the challenges
26:23
Speaker 13: that that Florida presents. The tape does not lie. You know,
26:27
Speaker 13: the analytics and the efficiency of their offense and defense,
26:30
Speaker 13: all that stuff does not lie. You can't really get
26:33
Speaker 13: lucky in this tournament. So we're just we know that
26:38
Speaker 13: it's not a best of seven, you know, and we've
26:40
Speaker 13: faced the same type of pressure that Todd and his team,
26:45
Speaker 13: you know, is facing playing these games. Like Todd knows
26:49
Speaker 13: what type of team he's got. I knew what type
26:52
Speaker 13: of team I had the last couple of years. And
26:54
Speaker 13: when you know you've got a squad, you know, that's
26:57
Speaker 13: like a real thing when you get to these rounds
27:00
Speaker 13: to thirty two, sweet sixteen, like you know you've got
27:02
Speaker 13: a squad, So I could relate to what he's experiencing
27:08
Speaker 13: right now.
27:10
Speaker 4: Any other questions, all right, coach, thank you very much,
27:14
Speaker 4: good luck tomorrow.
27:14
Speaker 2: Thank you.
27:17
Speaker 13: My job